Four Red Sox players to participate in World Baseball Classic
The 2013 World Baseball Classic will kick off in early March. Although there isn't as much hype as one might expect, the WBC provides some really exciting baseball. It's also nice to see some real competitive play after a really long winter. Anyways, there are four Sox players that will be participating. Alfredo Aceves will play for Mexico, Xander Bogaerts for Netherlands, Jose De La Torre for Puerto Rico, and Shane Victorino for the USA. Sox GM Ben Cherington had this to say about some players sitting out:
One disappointment will be that second baseman and fan-favorite Dustin Pedroia announced on Tuesday that he will not be playing in the WBC. Injuries to his fingers including a break and torn ligaments, are the reasons for Pedroia sitting out this time around. Although I'm sure Sox fans would like to see more players participate, it should be understood that their first priorities are to their team. So, sitting out to make sure that they are healthy for Opening Day against the Yankees is definitely the wiser choice.
Quick Note: Team USA's first game is on Friday March 8th, at 9 p.m. (ET)
“We had a lot of conversations with a lot of players,” Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said Thursday. “I think some were taken out for health-related reasons, coming off health issues from last year and even though we’re optimistic where guys are, there’s some control that the team has over those situations, and there’s other cases where we had players decided they wanted to be in camp the whole time and turned it down. Obviously, there’s a small handful that looks like they’re going to play.”
One disappointment will be that second baseman and fan-favorite Dustin Pedroia announced on Tuesday that he will not be playing in the WBC. Injuries to his fingers including a break and torn ligaments, are the reasons for Pedroia sitting out this time around. Although I'm sure Sox fans would like to see more players participate, it should be understood that their first priorities are to their team. So, sitting out to make sure that they are healthy for Opening Day against the Yankees is definitely the wiser choice.Quick Note: Team USA's first game is on Friday March 8th, at 9 p.m. (ET)
